Hardy's politics are not always popular with the Radio 4 audience – in an appearance on Just A Minute in 2000 he earned boos from the audience and a reprimand from a fellow panellist, the former LiberalMPSir Clement Freud, when Hardy responded to the subject 'Parasites' by talking about the Royal family. On the other hand, his satirical and slightly surreal impressions of bankers and other members of the establishment (mimicking a pompous sense of entitlement) have often prompted great mirth and recognition in live radio audiences.

Hardy supported Irish nationalist Róisín McAliskey, the then-pregnant daughter of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, when the former was accused of involvement in an IRA mortar attack in Germany, and put up part of the bail money to free her.[2]

In an edition of Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation on BBC Radio 4 "How to be Afraid," broadcast in September 2004, Hardy suggested that members and supporters of the BNP should be "shot in the back of the head", sparking complaints and causing Burnley Borough Council to cancel a show in the town over fears that it could be "disruptive" in an area with a recent history of racial tension.[3]

He was married to American-born actress and comedienne Kit Hollerbach, who featured alongside him in the radio sitcoms Unnatural Acts[4] and At Home with the Hardys.[5] They adopted a daughter in 1990. They separated in 2003 and are divorced. He now lives with film-maker Katie Barlow.